Torrey Pines planners release statement on One Paseo amendment

The Torrey Pines Community Planning Board recently unanimously approved the following statement on the One Paseo Precise Plan Amendment:

“The Torrey Pines Community Planning Board (TPCPB) is taking this opportunity to respond to the San Diego Development Services – Carmel Valley Employment Center, Unit Two, Precise Plan Amendment (PPA) for the One Paseo Project issued March 29, 2012. As a Responsible Agency, we believe it is our obligation to provide comments to Development Services and offer our opinion to our neighboring Carmel Valley Community Planning Board. The TPCPB reserves the right to amend, under separate cover, this document as new details and research become available up until the end of the comment period ending May 29, 2012 or as part of the administrative record after public comment is closed.

“The Torrey Pines Community Plan states, “the vision of this community plan is to provide the highest possible quality of life for residents and businesses while preserving the community’s unique natural environment. The TPCPB, as a duly elected agency, is responsible to both its current residents and future generations.“ The TPCPB hopes to direct the attention of Development Services and the Carmel Valley Planning Board to some of the key impacts the zoning change proposed by the PPA will have on its neighboring community to the west.

“The PPA requests a zoning change for a 23.6-acre lot, from CVPD-EC to CVPD-MC, on the northeast portion of Unit 2. The TPCPB believes that this zoning change will have far-reaching negative impacts to both communities, and adjoining regions, that will not be mitigated. The PPA presents an attractive development concept but shows it as if the proposed 23.6-acre development stands in isolation. It does not. The failure of the PPA to address the impact of the proposal on its surroundings is a fatal flaw.

“The PPA fails to recognize the relationship of Carmel Valley to Torrey Pines. The PPA does not address the fact that many public facilities and safety services located in Carmel Valley also serve Torrey Pines. With increased traffic it is likely that police, fire, and emergency services will have a slowed response time to Torrey Pines. An increase in traffic will also hinder access for Torrey Pines residents to shared public facilities such as the library, recreation center, parks, elementary schools and high schools. Traffic may also be expected to flow onto Torrey Pines area residential streets at peak hours, although the PPA does not address this problem. Increased side-street traffic will have a direct impact on our residents as well as amplify the problem of egress and delayed emergency responses.

“While we commend the PPA for offering to bring a “heart to Carmel Valley” the TPCPB believes that Carmel Valley already has a “heart” that the PPA ignores. Development Unit 9, 168 acres immediately to the east of the proposed zoning area, has been zoned as a “Town Center” since 1986. Hundreds of millions of dollars, both public and private, have gone into “mixed-use” development of retail space, high-density housing, and many public facilities, including schools, a library and a recreation center. The PPA makes scant attempt to integrate its’ proposed village with the existing adjacent Carmel Valley designated Town Center.

“The TPCPB believes that a multi-use project of the scale that the proposed zoning change would allow, up to 1,800,000 s.f. and more than 4,000 parking spaces, is simply too large and will have too may unmitigated negative consequences. The TPCPB urges that the zoning of the Carmel Valley Employment Center Unit 2 remain an Employment Center and that it be restricted to fulfilling its original purpose of providing 510,000 s.f. of commercial space.”